The animal and wildlife forum concentrates on drawings of all animals, from domestic pets to wildlife - anything dressed in fur, feathers or scales. The emphasis is on drawing but paintings are also acceptable.

Well my art business has absolutely taken off in the last few months! I lost my job and this became my sole source of income for a while and in that time it has exploded and I've got more commissions than I know what to do with!

This one is a gift for his owner's 70th birthday on 31st of August so will be a quick drawing for me! The dog's name is Otis and I drove almost an hour to ensure I got a great reference photo to work from. Isn't he cute?!

And here we are almost 3 hours in. Mike, I've been utilising your technique of indenting with a hard grade pencil for the light-but-not-white fur and it is making this a breeze to work on! You're a lifesaver!

Nose is about done, still need to finish those eyes off but I find it hard to concentrate on one area for too long! I like to flit about the page doing bits here and there hah.

Krissy, sorry hearing about your job but glad your commission work is doing well. Guess there can be a silver lining in the black cloud. It looks like you are off to a good start, will be looking for updates as you head for the finish line.

Thanks Bob, it was a rough few months but everything is so much better now!

Thank you Laurene, it's wonderful to be able to make a living doing something I really love! Yes Otis has such beautiful eyes! His owner wanted a dog but her husband did not. She found this boy in need of a new home and adopted him without telling her husband. Now he calls the dog 'his darling' and 'sweetie' and absolutely adores him so this drawing is a gift to him for his 70th birthday

I set a goal of working on this for an hour a day as I have a bad habit of willfully ignoring drawings that I find challenging. Can't do that with this one because of the deadline though! About to reach 5 hours of drawing time. Going to have to be more efficient as I have a cap of 18hrs for this one.

Otis's "Dad" is going to be thrilled with this! If he isn't, I'll buy it!

You're doing a really first-rate job with it, especially with that challenging hair type. My "acid test" is to see if I can "feel" the texture - and I can easily feel my fingers running through Otis's rough coat. You're describing it perfectly. And the same goes for his character - I know this boy instantly even though I've not met him... although he has the look of my Buster, so that possibly has something to do with it. They're both cheeky, scruffy terriers

And that rush of work you received? I'm not at all surprised! Quality always pays.

Thank you so much Laurene, Mike and Bev! It's been a dream come true to be able to earn a living from drawing! If you'd told 14yr old me that this is how my life would go I think I would've laughed at you! But 12 years later I feel like I'm still just getting started

Today I filled in his bottom jaw and decided to break out the 4B and really push the contrast. I love how it's looking, especially with those rich dark tones... They really make him pop! I've decided to try a combination of erasing and negative drawing for the wiry fur on his muzzle, which I'll try to tackle tomorrow. I think I need to go back into his nose and bump the contrast up there too. Anyway, almost 8hrs in now and plenty more to go

Oh and as a side note, look how filthy my drawing board has become hah I've been playing with graphite powder a bit lately and it makes such a mess!

Aahh thank you so much! I really appreciate the kind words. I feel like I am reaching a new skill level thanks to this drawing and it's exciting! I've figured out new techniques and learning what works and what doesn't, as well as things I need to improve on, like my negative drawing skills. I'm using indenting as a crutch because my negative drawing skills are junk hah! Something to work on and develop through some personal drawings in future I think!

I love graphite powder but really just for backgrounds or looser "finger painting" style drawings like these two!

Anyway, I've sunk a few more hours in, although it really doesn't look it! Starting on his collar and chest. Not yet sure how I'll tackle the soft, shapeless forms on his chest!

Thank you so much Bev! He has such a lovely expression and is a very sweet dog by nature! I'm now at the 12 hour mark, so just another 4 hours left until I reach my quoted maximum. I feel like my quality level and efficiency is improving a lot with each drawing I do. I quote for a maximum of 18hrs to keep the price at a reasonable level for my customers (I charge $25 per hour). I also don't have much patience so 18hrs is about the max I want to spend on something!

Any suggestions on how I can go about tackling his chest fur would be much appreciated! I am contemplating laying down more of a dark base and then picking out individual clumps of hair with my blu-tack or Tombow Mono eraser and then going back in with the pencils to define and detail them. Does that sound reasonable? My negative drawing skills aren't flash so this seems like a reasonable compromise in the meantime.

EDIT: Just realised I can't count. 12 plus 4 does not equal 18 I need to go back to bed